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Multiple Maniacs
Multiple Maniacs is a 1970 black comedy film composed, shot, edited, written, produced, and directed by John Waters, as his second feature film. The plot follows a traveling troupe of sideshow freaks whose free shows end in the murder of their attendees. Plot Lady Divine is the owner and operator of a show called The Cavalcade of Perversion, a free exhibit of various perversions and fetish acts and obscenities such as the "Puke Eater". The show is free, although the various performers must persuade and even physically drag reluctant passers-by to attend. As a finale to every show, Lady Divine appears and robs the patrons at gunpoint. This arrangement seems successful to Lady Divine's lover, Mr. David, but Lady Divine becomes bored with the routine and decides to murder the patrons rather than merely robbing them. After escaping the murder scene, she comes home to her prostitute daughter, Cookie, and her new boyfriend, Steve, a member of the Weather Underground. Lady Divine receives a call from Edith, proprietor of the local bar, who informs her that Mr. David had been at her bar with another woman named Bonnie. Lady Divine heads there to catch them, but is raped on the way by two glue-sniffers. Meanwhile, Mr. David and Bonnie engage in sex acts at the home he shares with Lady Divine, during which Bonnie anally penetrates him with a dildo. While Lady Divine contemplates her rape, the Infant of Prague appears and leads her to a church. Making her way uncertainly into the church, Lady Divine prays, but is then approached and seduced by a strange young woman, Mink. They have a sexual encounter in the church pew, the woman inserting a rosary into Lady Divine's rectum while describing the Stations of the Cross. Now lesbian lovers, Lady Divine and Mink go to Edith's bar with the intent to kill Mr. David and his mistress, but they are too late: David and Bonnie have left. Mr. David returns to Cookie's house to kill Divine, but finds only Cookie and fellow performer Rick there. An argument ensues and Bonnie accidentally kills Cookie. They tie up Rick and hide Cookie's corpse just before Divine and Mink return. When Bonnie tries to shoot Lady Divine, Divine attacks and kills her with a knife. She then turns on Mr. David and eviscerates him as well, devouring his internal organs and becoming more frenzied. Rick appears and surprises Mink, who shoots him. In a fit of anger, Divine accuses Mink of betrayal and stabs her. Divine becomes even more crazed upon finding her daughter's body hidden behind the couch. Exhausted from the ordeal, Lady Divine collapses on a couch and is raped by a giant lobster named Lobstora. In the aftermath (mumbling "You're a maniac now, Divine"), she destroys a car, then wanders Baltimore trying to kill anyone she can. The film ends with the appearance of the National Guard, who surround Lady Divine on the street and shoot her down, accompanied by the sound of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America". Cast * Divine as Lady Divine * David Lochary as Mr. David * Mary Vivian Pearce as Bonnie * Mink Stole as Mink * Cookie Mueller as Cookie Divine * Edith Massey as Edith the Barmaid * Paul Swift as Steve * Michael Renner Jr. as The Infant of Prague * Rick Morrow as Ricky Trivia * Shot in various locations without permits. * Divine got the fur coat he wears in the movie as a Christmas present from John Waters. * The film holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is Waters' highest-rated film. * Lobstora was inspired by a postcard Waters had of the beach at Provincetown, Massachusetts with a big lobster in the sky. * The opening credits were done on shelving paper. * It's November of 1969 according to the wall calendar by the payphone in Pete's Bar. * Edith Massey worked at the same bar that her character worked at. * Mink Stole did her own make-up and wore her own clothes. * The giant lobster was built in one and a half weeks. It cost about thirty-seven dollars to make. * The original ending was supposed to link Divine to the Charles Manson murders, but when it was discovered that the Manson family was responsible, the ending was changed. The original ending would have fed the gag that Divine was responsible for Sharon Tate's murder.